Read, play, learn

In Surangali, a village in Jalna district, it is easy to guess where you might spot local children after school. Until over a year ago, you'd have caught teenage boys hanging out at the local bus stop and the girls back home babysitting younger siblings. Once Thinksharp Foundation, run by three Mumbai-based social entrepreneurs, set up their first StudyMall in September 2013, it was this library that most youngsters rushed to after school.

Growing up in the village of Mandwa in Beed district, Santosh Phad, 31, was always aware of the lack of opportunities available to people in rural areas. "I was lucky to have had the chance to study engineering and then come to Mumbai for my MBA. But when I returned to my village, I realised that most of my childhood friends had no choice but to continue farming. I decided I had to do something and give back to society," he says. In 2010, he set up the Thinksharp Foundation, but it was a chance meeting with 30-year-old Bhagwan Jadhav that steered him towards the direction of setting up a library-cum-activity centre across villages in Maharashtra where they found that the educational infrastructure was below par.

With some help from organisations like Pratham Books, Google and Reliance Capital, they managed to rent a 200 sqft space at a nominal rate, decorated it with posters, laid a carpet on floor, set up book racks and installed desktop computers. This was enough to raise curiosity among the village children and their parents, and on the day of the inauguration, Thinksharp Foundation was met with an enthusiastic welcome.

Currently housing 600 books on science, geography, sports, politics, and even competitive exams, the StudyMall caters to readers aged between five and 25. "But the reason we call it a StudyMall is because we wanted it to be a one-stop-shop for children, the way a mall is for shoppers. Apart from being a centre for academics, it is also meant to host extra-curricular activities, career guidance sessions and competitions," explains volunteer Dr Shraddha Bhange, 27. From registers they keep at the centre and a volunteer who monitors the children's use of the space, they know that about 50-60 children are regulars at the StudyMall. "The students now have so much more exposure. They have access to magazines, newspapers, books and know about the world outside their village at a global level," reveals Phad.